Supporting athletes with type-1 diabetes in their athletic pursuits through nutrition

With fingers crossed

Dear PoP friends,

I must confess. I haven’t been entirely honest with you all. I haven’t been lying either, but I’ve also not been offering up full disclosure. And some of you have noticed.

I’ve fielded more than a few inquiries lately as to whether I’ve taken a running hiatus, whether I’m now leaning more towards cycling… it seems you guys notice when I write about running and when I don’t 😉

Well friends, I am now writing to assure you that I am not giving up on my running, not taking a break from it, not even thinking of such a thing. It was just a momentary rest is all.

A few weeks ago, on the last stretch of an hour long run (seriously, 5 minutes from home!) I was motoring down a hill, in the zone, had Lady Gaga telling me baby, I was born this way, when BAM! my right foot went down hard into a where-the-hell-did-that-come-from dip in the pavement! I kept running but was constantly doing a check: how is my heel, how is my arch, how are my ankles, etc., etc.? Everything seemed fine.

However, later that morning, Big Ring, Little Ring and I decided to spend the day at the Vancouver Aquarium which involves about 7 km of walking to and from the skytrain station, as well as a couple hours hanging out with the fishies. Instead of wearing sensible shoes, I wore flats. Big mistake.

On the walk back, I started to feel a stretch in my arch. I tried adjusting my foot, adjusting my walk, flexing my toes, but nothing would alleviate it. It felt as though the ligaments were being stretched out like a 25-cent sticky hand. Oh freaking crud.

I iced. I advilled. I elevated. I rested. For a week and a half I stayed out of my running sneakers. My first run back last week was 3 km. I didn’t concentrate on pace, didn’t fret about distance, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. The arch seemed fine on the run, but I still questioned whether or not I was feeling a dull ache during other parts of the day. Two days later, I tried 4 km, again not worrying about pace, but more focusing on form. It felt good. Two days later, I upped the distance to 5 km. Still good. Two days later, 7 km. And today, 9 km. All good.

Let these feet fly…

TODAY’S – SUPER-EARLY!!! – RUN:

4:45 a.m. BG before: 7.0

Temp. basal: none

Carbs: 2 shot bloks (16g) with bolus

Distance: 9.02 km

Average pace: 5:37 min/km

Time: 50:34

6 a.m. BG after: 9.1

I’m still not 100 per cent sure if it’s fully healed. I still question achy twangs throughout the day, I still fret if there’s something there or if it’s just in my head. For the most part, I think it’s okay, and when I’m running, I know it’s okay. It feels perfectly great in running form 😀

And so, with fingers crossed, I continue to massage and ice the hell out of it, and hope I’ve nipped the jerk face in the bud!